Even before the Warsaw conference last week, it had become clear the Trump administration does have a strategy in the Middle East: punishing Iran until the government is more compliant. Unfortunately, it’s the wrong strategy to pursue.

December 19, 2018
| Jon B. Alterman, Will TodmanPresident Trump announced the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria which appears to be an abandonment of the United States’ articulated aims in Syria. Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the Assad regime will emerge as the winners, while Israel and the Kurds are the biggest losers.

October 22, 2018
| Jon B. AltermanA great deal of uncertainty still surrounds the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. CSIS Middle East Program director Jon B. Alterman outlines what we know about this case and what developments and responses we can expect to see in the coming weeks.

A U.S. general recently lamented that the United States has multiple policy goals in Syria, but it has not been able either to prioritize or deconflict them—that is a problem, as CSIS Middle East Program director Jon Alterman writes in a new commentary.

September 24, 2018
| Jon B. AltermanThe United States needs an Iran strategy. Similarly, Iran needs a U.S. strategy. Now, it feels like neither country has such a strategy as CSIS Middle East Program director Jon Alterman writes in a new commentary.

July 12, 2018
| Jon B. AltermanMiddle Eastern governments are commonly described as conservative and cautious, but conservatism and caution won’t do in an era in which the stakes are so high and the future is so uncertain.

June 13, 2018
| Jon B. AltermanThe United States not only has a unique opportunity to loom large in the region’s future, but doing so would also push others to share in the burdens. Failing to do so is not merely a missed opportunity. It would represent an expensive mistake.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis is fond of pointing out, “The enemy gets a vote.” However masterful a maneuver the United States executes, the impact depends on how the adversary responds, and not just on what the United States has done.

April 24, 2018
| Jon B. AltermanYemen’s challenges are difficult, but they are not intractable. The GCC states seem to have internalized that they cannot bomb their way to victory in Yemen, and they recently pledged massive support to UN humanitarian operations.